The Bakery
by sakurasbankai
Summary: Orihime Inoue works at a bakery with her good friend Ichigo Kurosaki as a regular customer. One day, he leaves her a message after he pays for his order. After Orihime reads the message, she gets an idea of what to do when he comes back.


The fresh sweet smell of cinnamon rolls had went into the air. Coffee was made, the cinnamon rolls were put on display, chatter was heard throughout the bakery. This job was so peaceful to Orihime Inoue. She loved the sweets, she loved the customers, she loved that everyone's mood lightened just by the sight of food. She always thought 'Why can't we all get along for the sake of food?'

She tightens her apron around her waist, and places her hair into a tight bun. Turning around, she waits for the next customer to take their order.

"Hey, Orihime." A familiar voice called out to her. She looks at the orange spiky haired boy, her face instantly lighting up. Her great friend, Ichigo. Everyday, he came to the bakery before work. The two always had a talk before he left, and he would sometimes come back after work.

"Hi, Ichigo! How's it goin'?" She asks, leaning on the counter. She enjoyed the most simple things, whether it was him getting stuck in traffic, stepping in mud, or finding money on the ground. With her job, any conversation would be nice.

"Eh, I'm running late to work but at this point, I don't even care. This whole week has been crappy. The only thing that's keeping my mood good is talking to you right now, actually." Ichigo smiled softly, this caused Orihime to blush.

 _Talking to me is keeping him in a good mood?_ Orihime thought to herself, she giggled.

"Is that so? Well, let's keep talking! However, if you don't want to be even more late, I should get your order now. You want the usual or something different?" Orihime says, heading to the coffee machine to prepare it for Ichigo's order.

"Oh yeah, you're right. Hmmm, I'll try something different today. What about a large Pumpkin spice latte with two cinnamon rolls?" He says, digging into his pocket to pull out his wallet for the amount of change that will be needed to pay.

"Oki doki! One large Pumpkin spice latte and two cinnamon rolls coming up!" Orihime smiles, she starts doing the usual steps to make the drink and once she's done, she sets it on the counter. She grabs two fresh cinnamon rolls and places them on a plastic wrapper and puts them in a brown paper bag.

"Well, Ichigo, your order is ready! That'll be $10.25!" Orihime smiles, handing Ichigo his order and she pulls the receipt from the cashier, handing it to him.

Ichigo smiles softly, he hands the money to Orihime. "Well, I'm gonna go now. I'll see you after work, bye Orihime!" He takes his order and waves goodbye to Orihime, leaving the bakery.

"Bye!" Orihime smiles, she checks through the money making sure it's the right amount. But this time it's different. He gave her more money than necessary.

 _A tip? He didn't have to do that._ Orihime thinks to herself, she then sees a small piece of paper with words on it. From what she could tell, it was a note.

 _Will you go out with me?_

 _\- Ichigo K._

Her eyes widen, _Is this for me? No, it can't be! Probably someone at work.. Definitely not me._ She turns over the small piece of paper that had her name written on it.

 _Orihime, will you go out with me?_

 _\- Ichigo K._

She blushes, when did he do this? Did you do it when she wasn't looking? What should she say? He's coming after work and she can't just blurt out yes. It'd be weird! Oh! She had an idea! Definitely. This idea was perfect.

Later on in the day, business was booming. It as crowded with teenagers and parents who were just picking up their children. She loved this time of day. She loved to see the children and teenager's faces when they saw any delicacy in the display rack.

"Order 25 is ready!" Orihime sings in a cheerful voice. She places the order on the counter.

"Jeez, you seem to be in a great mood as usual, Orihime!" A feminine voice called out to her. She knew that voice anywhere. If it wasn't her close friend, Rukia. She turns around, smiling.

"Rukia! Hey! Yep, today's been great. Why wouldn't I be happy? This job is amazing!" Orihime hands the petite girl the receipt.

Rukia giggled, she smiles softly at Orihime. The two girls continued to conversate until Rukia left.

"Peace, Rukia!" Orihime waves as Rukia headed out the door. While she was heading out the door, she saw the tall orange haired boy from earlier.

 _Stay calm, Orihime!_ She thought to herself. "Hey, Ichigo!" Orihime waved, he smiled, walking over to the counter.

"Hey, Orihime." He smiled, he's definitely in a good mood. Maybe he didn't get in trouble for showing up to work late?

"How was work? Did you get yelled at for showing up late? You seem to be in a good mood again!" Orihime says as she wipes down the counter.

"Eh, work was fine today. Surprisingly, Yoruichi didn't yell at me for being late. She seemed different today. But honestly, you're the reason I'm in a good mood." Ichigo says, _Good, you're saying the right thing, Ichigo!_ He thinks to himself.

Orihime blushes, her eyes wander away from Ichigo. That was the second time today!

"W-Well, it's nice to know that I'm cheering you up!" Orihime says, she tightens the apron around her waist as she's about to get ready to take his order.

"What would you like now? The same from earlier?"

"Nahh. I'll have a box of dozen donuts? I'm getting them for someone." Ichigo smiled when he mentioned the someone.

"Oooh, who's the special lady?" Orihime says, giggling. She grabs a fresh box setting it on the counter and she grabs a plastic wrapper to grab the donuts that Ichigo want.

"Can't say. But, you'll find out soon enough!" Ichigo blushed, _Damn it Ichigo! You're not being smooth!_ He thought to himself.

Orihime chuckles at his blush, "Well, whoever it is, she must be really special to you. That'll be $9.99!" Orihime smiles, passing him the box and the receipt.

Ichigo digs in his wallet for his money and he passes it to her.

"Yeah, she is. By the way, don't mind the tip from earlier. You're my favorite worker, so of course, I must give you extra!" Ichigo scratches his head.

She blushes, _Favorite worker? W-Wow..._ She thinks to herself. She was interrupted when she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders.

"Orihime, I'm taking over, sweetie! You could take a break. You've been on your feet all day, and don't argue with me about this!" The voice cheerfully says.

"O-Okay, Rangiku!" Orihime smiles, taking off her apron, placing it on the hook. Rangiku looks between her and Ichigo and smirks.

"Hi, Ichigo! What are you doing here?" Rangiku wiggled her eyebrows, she could tell what the status between them was. Even if they didn't know it yet, Rangiku knew what they were. They had a deep bond that's different from the rest of Ichigo's friendships, perhaps this wasn't friendship like she thought?

"Oh, hey Rangiku! I was about to ask Orihime if she wanted to eat these donuts with me since she's on break." Ichigo says, looking over to Orihime.

Orihime's eyes widened, he's asking her? But what about that special someone he had? She thought they the girl would have came and ate the donuts with him.

"Me? But what about your special lady? Isn't she going to come and eat the donuts with you?" Orihime scratches her head.

"Y-Yeah... About that. She's already here. In front of me. The special lady is y-you." Ichigo stuttered, this didn't exactly go as planned for him. _God, you're such a dimwit, Ichigo._ He was mentally slapping himself.

Orihime blushes, she then smiles. _Keep calm, girlie! Rangiku has prepared you for moments like this! I can't freak out. I can't freak out!_ She reminded herself.

"Is that so? Then, yes. I will eat these donuts with you!" Orihime smiles, she then walks over to Ichigo from behind the counter and links her arm with him.

The two walk over to an empty table in the bakery, Rangiku smiles at them. When Ichigo takes a seat, Rangiku glances over to Orihime and flashes her a wink and a thumbs up. She mouths the words, _You did it! You did that!_ Automatically causing Orihime to blush.

"Listen... About earlier.. The paper... You did get it right?" Ichigo asked, scratching his head. Orihime giggles at him, she could tell he was nervous.

"Yes, I did! By the way, you got mail!" She says in a silly tone, she hands him a neatly folded paper with writing on it.

Ichigo looks at her, smiling. He unfolds the paper and reads the message.

 _Yes, I will go out with you, Ichigo._

 _\- Orihime I._

She formed a heart after the sentence. The two look at each other, blushing. They were freshly a couple. What better way to start the hour off by eating donuts and talking about their day?

"Oh! Ichigo, I have a joke!"

"What is it? I wanna hear this."

"What did the Bacon say to Tomato?" She chimes, leaning in, eager to hear his response.

"Hmm.. What?" He asks, after thinking about it.

"Lettuce get together!" She laughs. Ichigo stares at her, shaking his head. He chuckles, yep, this is the nerd he's dating. He absolutely loves her.

The two laugh off into the distance, eating their donuts in peace. Surrounded by food, love, and happiness. Whoever said love couldn't happen in a bakery totally lied.

 **The End.**


End file.
